Janet Tonkins is affectionately known in Baltimore, Md. as the ‘Baltimore Real Estate Diva,’ ‘The Cashflow Queen’ because she buys houses like other women buy clothing and shoes. As a Christian striving to treat everyone the way she wants to be treated. She built a name and reputation as the ‘go-to’ person in Baltimore for rental properties because of product excellence and going the extra mile. Her mantra and mission statement is “I won’t give anyone anything I can’t live in myself.” Janet has bought an average of 2-4 houses per month and has over 100 properties in her residential portfolio.

ible Study Teacher, mother of three, grandmother of two, and 35-year-old retiree from Verizon Communications, Janet has successfully bought, sold, rehabbed, and managed over $50 million in single-family houses and multi-unit apartment buildings in Paterson, NJ, Baltimore, MD, Atlanta, GA and Jacksonville, FL. She teaches classes on ‘How to Build a Rental Property Empire.’ She is also a Coach, ‘Hard Money’ and ‘Private Money Lender,’ a Philanthropist, as well as a consultant and mentor to young men and women in the real estate industry.

She and her husband Owen were developers and partners in the Baltimore Eastside Redevelopment (Johns Hopkins Hospital area) along with Forest City Development Company (and several other minority partners) where they are part owners of three $110 million dollar biotech labs, a 150-unit apartment building, a parking garage, and have completed the sale of 79 newly built luxury townhomes in the Hopkins area in partnership with Ryan Homes. They are currently in the process of developing a 74-unit apartment building ($37 million project) for Grandparents raising grandchildren in their former hometown of Paterson, New Jersey. They are the first Black Americans to build from the ground up in the City of Paterson.

She is an Executive Board Member of the Baltimore Real Estate Investment Association, chairwoman, and coordinator of the SAVVY Women’s Investment Meeting, and a member of the Baltimore City HABC Advisory Board.

Janet has written articles for the Baltimore REIA Newsletter, is a frequent speaker at wealth and real-estate symposiums, and has been asked to participate in a real estate study at Johns Hopkins University. She has spoken on NPR radio and featured in the Nationwide Realty/Trac® newsletter.

Her journey has truly been one of from poverty to wealth, from rags to riches, not just in finances but in all areas of her life. Janet credits Christ as her CEO for allowing her to become the COO of her life.

She has changed the trajectory of her family as well as the lives of young men and women. A teacher at heart, her mission in life is not only to inspire and motivate African American girls, boys, men, and women all over the globe but to teach them how to do it!

Her motto is:

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime!"